We’re a year and a half out from Peyton Manning’s failed attempt to take it all against the Seattle Seahawks at Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey, but the star quarterback has also had an individually standout season in 2014. Manning claimed back his record for the most touchdown passes in a regular season from Tom Brady in 2013, and also threw for a league record total 5,477 yards.

Joe Montana once said there’s no thrill like throwing a touchdown pass. Taking that to heart, here’s a list of 10 quarterbacks with the most touchdown passes in a season in the history of the NFL.

9 (tie). Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions)

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

41 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2011

Stafford shone in 2011 and added the honor of being only the fourth quarterback in NFL history and third in the 2011 season to throw for 5,000 passing yards in a season. The other two were Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Stafford then became the only quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns over a four-game span. He was named a Pro Bowl alternate for the NFC and also the 2011 Pro Football Weekly Comeback Player of the Year, AP Comeback Player of the Year, and NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year.

9 (tie). Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams)

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

41 Touchdown Passes
Season: 1999

Warner, part of the Rams’ “The Greatest Show on Turf” offense, had a standout season in 1999, arriving to limelight straight from anonymity. He threw for a total of 4,353 yards and his 41 touchdown passes came with a completion rate of 65.1 percent. He also became the only NFL quarterback in history to throw three touchdown passes in each of his first three starts. Taking the Rams to a Super Bowl win against the Tennessee Titans, Warner set a Super Bowl record of attempting 45 passes without a single interception. He was named the league Most Valuable Player as well as the Super Bowl MVP that year.

8. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)

Cliff McBride/Getty Images

43 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2012

In Week 14 of the 2012 season, Brees threw for 354 yards, which gave him his seventh straight 4,000-yard passing season and beat Manning’s record of six straight seasons. His streak of consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass each ended at a whopping 54 in Week 13 against the Atlanta Falcons. In all, 2012 was Brees’s fifth straight season with at least 30 touchdown passes & 4,000 yards passing. Brees was then selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl as an injury replacement for Robert Griffin III.

7. Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins)

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

44 Touchdown Passes
Season: 1986

Marino threw for 4,476 yards and scored 44 touchdown passes in 1986 on his way to becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to have three consecutive seasons of 30 or more touchdown passes. He threw his 100th career touchdown pass in the middle of this season, too, one in which he led the league in yards and touchdown passes. He was also named 1986 first team All-Pro.

6. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

45 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2011

The Packers left the playoff party too early in 2011, but Rodgers had one of the best seasons by a quarterback ever. He passed for 4,643 yards, scored a total of 45 touchdowns, and his passer rating of 122.5 is still the highest for a single season in NFL history. He also topped the league’s touchdown-to-interception ratio, touchdowns percentage, and yards per attempt. He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player award and finished second for the AP-Offensive Player of the Year award.

5. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

46 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2011

Brees broke Dan Marino’s 27 year-old record for most passing yards in one season in 2011 on the way to setting a new Saints franchise record for passing touchdowns in a season. Brees would also remember the season for Week 17 against the Carolina Panthers, when he set 6 NFL records. However, Brees and the Saints lost the NFC Divisional Round Playoff game to the San Francisco 49ers.

4. Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins)

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

48 Touchdown Passes
Season: 1984

The year of Marino’s only Super Bowl appearance saw him breaking six NFL passing records, including those for touchdown passes. His record of 48 was alive for 20 years before Manning and then Brady surpassed him. He was also named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, although the Dolphins lost the Super Bowl against San Francisco 49ers 38-16.

3. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

49 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2004

During the season, Manning threw for 4,557 yards and the 49 touchdown passes were a then record. He was also selected as the 2004 NFL Most Valuable Player and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He also won the Best NFL Player at the ESPY Awards and the ESPY Award for Best Record-Breaking Performance. According to statistics site Football Outsiders, this was Manning’s best season ever by a quarterback, play-for-play.

2. Tom Brady (New England Patriots)

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

50 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2007

That this was a memorable season for Brady would be an understatement. When the quarterback, who led the Patriots to the first ever 16-0 regular season record in league history, made three touchdowns against Indianapolis, it was the ninth consecutive game in which he had done so and that broke Manning’s record of eight. He also finally broke Manning’s overall record of 49 touchdown passes, set in 2004, in the very last game of the season. He was named both the Most Valuable Player of the season and the Offensive Player of the Year.

1. Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

55 Touchdown Passes
Season: 2013

Manning still has the Super Bowl to deal with, but records came thick and fast for the quarterback in 2013. In his very first opening game of the season — against the Baltimore Ravens — Manning became one of only six players in NFL history to throw seven touchdown passes in one game. He then broke the record for most touchdown passes in the first three games of a season — throwing 12 — against the Oakland Raiders. Then came the main statistic for our list. On December 22, playing against the Houston Texans, Manning regained his record for most touchdown passes in a season from Brady after getting to 51. He eventually finished the regular season with 55 touchdown passes and also threw for a league record 5,477 yards.

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/10-quarterbacks-with-most-touchdowns-peyton-manning-watch.html/feed/0The Cheat Sheet is Now the Largest Premium Men’s Lifestyle Sitehttp://www.cheatsheet.com/business/the-cheat-sheet-is-now-the-largest-premium-mens-lifestyle-site.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/the-cheat-sheet-is-now-the-largest-premium-mens-lifestyle-site.html/#commentsMon, 13 Jul 2015 19:00:08 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://www.cheatsheet.com/?p=547680

The Cheat Sheet (cheatsheet.com) has sharpened its focus to become the largest (Quantcast) and most comprehensive premium men’s lifestyle site for improving the modern man’s quality of life. While it will continue producing high-quality content in its trademark digestible formats, The Cheat Sheet will aim to better serve the lifestyle needs of its core audience of young, modern men through this change.

The company unveiled a bold new design for its cheatsheet.com site last week, along with key changes to its main editorial verticals. While continuing to serve its loyal audience with in-depth coverage in existing verticals such as Sports, Automobiles, and Entertainment, the site has added several new lifestyle verticals including Gear & Style, Health & Fitness, Money & Career, and Culture.

“This is a huge step forward in the growth of our company and we are excited about optimizing a platform to better represent the largest portion of our audience,” said CEO Damien Hoffman. “We are proud to have built a world-class company culture and a strong team committed to quality and success. We are excited about helping modern men conveniently leverage the Internet to live their best lives.”

About The Cheat Sheet

The Cheat Sheet is the largest and most comprehensive recommendation platform for improving a modern man’s quality of life. We go beyond just objects and activities to provide everything men need to buy, do and know. The Cheat Sheet was founded in July 2009 by Millennial co-founders Damien and Derek Hoffman. The company is an extremely rare phenomenon in the media industry because it has reached a tremendous level of success without any outside investment and remains privately held.

“We are thrilled with our team’s success and are excited to embrace the long-term opportunity to solidify our trademarked Cheat Sheet brand as a media powerhouse,” said CEO Damien Hoffman.

“We are focused on continued success via our world-class company culture and team. We are a family-owned, bootstrapped media company playing the long game, and our transition to the mega-brand The Cheat Sheet is a milestone proving media companies can achieve sustainable business models.”

About The Cheat Sheet

The Cheat Sheet is quality editorial for the affluent and influential millennial business professional, providing everything you need to know for your busy life on the go. Produced in a digestible format, The Cheat Sheet provides information quickly and easily on everything from business, investing and political news, to tech, auto, sports, entertainment, and life, including food and travel. The Cheat Sheet reaches over 15 million uniques per month and is a Top 10 Business Sites according to comScore.

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/top-business-publisher-wall-st-cheat-sheet-officially-becomes-the-cheat-sheet.html/feed/08 New Startups Coming Up From Dave McClure’s Stablehttp://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/startups-breaking-news/8-new-startups-coming-up-from-dave-mcclures-stable.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/startups-breaking-news/8-new-startups-coming-up-from-dave-mcclures-stable.html/#commentsSun, 09 Mar 2014 19:09:02 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://wallstcheatsheet.com/?p=451692

Dave McClure’s company, 500 Startups, which provides seed funding and guidance to early-stage companies, recently graduated its Batch 7 group. Starting last fall, the 30 companies went through a rigorous training and mentoring program through McClure’s team. Having attended the batch’s New York City reception, we explore eight standouts from the group.

1. OLSET

What is OLSET? OLSET wants you to become a better traveler by personalizing your travel booking for you. It lets its partner organizations learn about a particular traveler’s preferences and categorizes hotel features and reviews to match the two. For the actual booking, it would use either a travel booking site or a virtual assistant app. “It is very rewarding to know that in a few years we will all have a proactive and personalized way to book travel,” says founder Gadi Bashvitz, who describes OLSET as a big data company. OLSET recently launched its first partnership with Any.do and a deal with what will be its first Online Travel Agent, GetGoing.

What pain-point is it trying to solve? According to Bashvitz, travel booking is broken, especially for business travelers. While the information travelers need prior to making a reservation is sitting in other travelers’ reviews, it is not easily accessible. This means that a traveler takes 45 minutes on average to find and book a hotel. This is not just bad for the traveler, but also the travel industry, because four out of every five potential customers who come to a website with the intent to book do not end up doing so.

2. Shortcut

What is Shortcut? According to CEO Duy Huynh, Shortcut is Siri for the Internet of Things. The program lets a user’s voice interact with various services and devices and gets whatever is requested done. At the moment, it is integrated with the popular mobile devices, including iPhone, Android, and Google Glass, and services such as Locktrion, Nest, Philips Hue, Dropcam, Fitbit, Coinbase, Dwolla, and Foursquare. So feel free to offer instructions such as “turn the light on,” “set the temperature to 70 degrees,” “pay my rent,” or “order pepperoni pizza,” and Shortcut will get it done.

What pain-point is it trying to solve? Huynh says that using 25 different apps to interact with 25 different devices or services does not make any sense and is a waste of time. ShortCut wants its users to forget going through hundreds of screens a day in order to perform simple, everyday tasks.

3. EquityZen

What is EquityZen? EquityZen has designed a way for companies seeking a second round of financing to take control of secondary transactions by its shareholders. According to EquityZen, this system helps the company, its employees, as well as investors. Employees get to share in the value they work to create while focusing on the company’s growth at the same time.

What pain-point is it trying to solve?Growth-stage companies have difficulty retaining their best employees and hiring attractive talent, according to cofounder Atish Davda. EquityZen tries to help them with both these issues and lets companies control which employees get to sell equity, how much, and when. Davda says secondary markets are broken. “Sellers can get cash, buyers can get access, but the company gets a headache,” he says. “EquityZen is solving this by giving companies control and a reason to conduct secondaries.”

4. LaunchTrack

What is LaunchTrack?LaunchTrackmakes it easy for organizers to get events online, accept registrations, and organize data. It helps organizers with everything from simple credit-card processing to automated email confirmations — automating these administrative tasks. Founder and CEO Jonathan Cordeau, a former event marketing specialist, says that in the course of producing hundreds of national events he struggled with transactional ticketing companies so much that he had the idea of building his own solution. “We’re taking an entirely different approach to this $36 billion industry here in the U.S. alone,” says Cordeau. “By putting relationships first, we’ve been able to gain traction quickly, and the market is clearly validating our vision for a smarter ticketing solution.”

What pain-point is it trying to solve? According to Cordeau, ticketing industry today is completely transactional. “Every day tickets are sold and valuable customer data is thrown away,” he says. “We believe this information is invaluable, and we’ve built our company to help organizations use the tickets they sell to better engage their customers, produce better events, and build a bigger business.”

5. AdEspresso

What is AdEspresso? AdEspresso is a way for small and medium businesses to get the right results with Facebook advertising. AdEspresso’s target clientele begins with businesses with zero expertise and an advertising budget as low as $1,000 per month. AdEspresso aims to save an advertiser’s time while increasing its return on investment. “Thanks to AdEspresso, in a few minutes anyone can create hundreds of ads testing everything — from the ad’s creatives to the demographic target,” says CEO Massimo Chieruzzi. “Once the campaign is published on Facebook, AdEspresso will provide simple, yet complete analytics with actionable information to improve performance.”

What pain-point is it trying to solve? According to Chieruzzi, small or medium businesses trying to advertise on Facebook with a budget in the $2,000 to $30,000 range need to conduct several tests — both on the creatives and the demographic target — to get the best performance. This increases costs and can also waste a lot of time while making data analysis complex. “Every month, small and medium businesses spend as many as 20 hours of work to perform these tasks with far-from-perfect results,” says Chieruzzi. ”The problem is that all the sophisticated, high-end solutions on the market are targeting the enterprise.” That’s where AdEspresso comes in.

6. uBiome

What is uBiome? uBiomeuses big data to understand the microbiome, or the billions of microorganisms that live on the surface and within the skin, saliva, gastrointestinal tract, and other parts of the human body. The company provides a kit that makes it easy for anyone to take a sample at home and send it for testing. Microbes perform functions such as digesting food, and have also been linked to mood, behavior, chronic sinusitis, and gut disorders. Samples, which are kept anonymous in large-scale studies, can also be compared to other samples and used for further research. uBiome has formed partnerships with organizations including Stanford, UCSF, the American Heart Association, and Ecover for these larger studies.

What pain-point is it trying to solve? uBiome calls itself an advocate of “citizen science.” The sampling is designed to help participants understand their own body, although the company makes it clear that it does not diagnose or treat any medical conditions.

7. RealtyShares

What is RealtyShares? RealtySharesis crowdfunding for real estate. Investors pool money and buy shares in residential and commercial real estate properties using the company’s online investment platform. Investments can be as small as $1,000 and are made in properties, including single family homes, apartment buildings, and retail centers located across the U.S. According to CEO Nav Athwal, RealtyShares gives investors open access to high-quality real estate investments. “By offering an innovative online investment platform that allows individuals to crowdfund private real estate investments, RealtyShares opens up the $500 billion investment real estate market to a much broader set of investors,” Athwal says.

What pain-point is it trying to solve? According to Athwal,the problem with real estate today is that it is difficult to access good investments, and investing requires a lot of time and capital. RealtyShares hopes to lower the barriers to entry into real estate investing and allow people to invest in real estate like they would in stocks or bonds.

8. Populr

What is Populr?Populr is a platform for creating and sharing one-pagers of information. Designing your page requires no prior design or programming knowledge and the final product is shareable anywhere a link can be posted. According to CEO Nicholas Holland, this is a solution that goes beyond email, PDF’s, and Office-like documents. Populr tracks how long someone views your information instead of just giving a simple ‘email read’ receipt.

What pain-point is it trying to solve? Live web information is superior to a static document, explains Holland. “We are the easiest way to publish information in a format that doesn’t require on-going effort, such as blogs, is mobile responsive, can be shared equally across social media and email, and has simple tools for tracking engagement.”

More From Wall St. Cheat Sheet:

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/startups-breaking-news/8-new-startups-coming-up-from-dave-mcclures-stable.html/feed/0Did Peyton Manning Really Say Voldemort?http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/did-peyton-manning-really-say-voldemort.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/did-peyton-manning-really-say-voldemort.html/#commentsFri, 31 Jan 2014 01:00:20 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://wallstcheatsheet.com/?p=448889YouTube channel Bad Lip Reading, or BLR, is back — just in time for the Super Bowl. The channel, which adds hilarious (and fake!) dubbing on news stories, political speeches, TV shows, songs, and sports clips, has released its second NFL video, and it’s already racking up views.

“MORE NFL — A Bad Lip Reading of The NFL” already has more than 15 million views as of this writing and is sure to gain traction as we head closer to Sunday, when the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks in New Jersey.

Watch the video and decide for yourself whether Peyton Manning (at 0:38) is actually grossed out by old folks’ allergies, denim golf jeans, and Voldemort.

More from Wall St. Cheat Sheet:

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/did-peyton-manning-really-say-voldemort.html/feed/07 NCAA College Basketball Freshmen Set to Make a Splashhttp://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nba/7-college-basketball-freshmen-set-to-make-a-splash.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nba/7-college-basketball-freshmen-set-to-make-a-splash.html/#commentsSun, 24 Nov 2013 22:15:05 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://wallstcheatsheet.com/?p=438495

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acidpix/

Scouts, agents, and coaches will have their eyes peeled during the 2013-14 college basketball season, which officially started November 8. This particular freshman bunch, eager to prove and high on talent, includes several names making the rounds as the most exciting college athlete to watch. We train our eye on seven new names who are likely to star in multiple match reports this season. The following players are not listed in any order.

Andrew Wiggins (University of Kansas)

If there’s one incoming player everyone in college basketball will have their eyes on, it’s Kansas’s Andrew Wiggins. The Canadian forward has been the talk of town for quite a while now, and the dunk specialist has some hype to live up to as he starts the 2013-14 season this November.

Jabari Parker (Duke University)

The offensive forward, new to Duke this season, has a great opportunity to shine at the high-profile side. As Rushthecourt.net’s Randy McClure told USA Today, ”Duke hasn’t had a player this versatile and talented since Luol Deng willed the Blue Devils to the Final Four a decade ago.”

Andrew Harrison (University of Kentucky)

Harrison is part of a Kentucky team being touted as offensively strong this season, and he will have his hands full trying to stand out. But the 6’5 point guard has furious speed and a raging competitive spirit as big weapons. According to Bleacher Report, “There isn’t a better freshman floor leader out there, and only a couple of upperclassmen who are anywhere near his league.”

Aaron Gordon (University of Arizona)

Aaron Gordon, a 6’8 forward, is carrying Arizona’s hope for a Final Four spot on his young but able shoulders. According to USA Today‘s Nicole Auerbach, Gordon is “a game-changer — perhaps the best NBA prospect in the nation — and the Wildcats will go as far as he takes them.”

Tyler Ennis (Syracuse University)

Syracuse’s new guard is trying to fill the shoes of Michael Carter-Williams, who averaged 7.4 assists last season, but there may not be a better replacement. Canadian Ennis has a strong passing game and some impressive ball-handling skills, making him a great name to watch this season.

Wayne Selden (University of Kansas)

Selden, a smart, thinking player, may be overshadowed by Wiggins on the Kansas roster, but the shooting guard is tall, strong, and quick — all qualities that are likely to make him shine. Sporting News‘s Mike DeCourcy had some high praise for the young player: “Wayne Selden does not relent. I’ll say this as directly as possible: Selden is the hardest-practicing freshman I’ve encountered in more than a quarter-century on the college basketball beat.”

Derrick Walton (University of Michigan)

The 6’1 Walton is one of two point guards on the Michigan roster, along with Spike Albrecht. That situation gives him a lot of space to show his leadership skills and on-court talent — although taking the mantle from Trey Burke won’t be easy. Walton hopefully knows how to handle those bright spotlights.

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nba/7-college-basketball-freshmen-set-to-make-a-splash.html/feed/07 Biggest Fines in NFL Historyhttp://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/7-biggest-fines-in-nfl-history.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/7-biggest-fines-in-nfl-history.html/#commentsThu, 21 Nov 2013 16:51:09 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://wallstcheatsheet.com/?p=434094The NFL’s perennial bad boy is at it again. Ndamukong Suh, the Detroit Lions defensive tackle, is in the dock once more with the seventh fine of his career that could see him poorer by $31,500, according to ESPN. The 26-year-old’s hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden has paved the way for the seventh fine of his NFL career, and the second after his eye-popping six-figure fine last month. Unlike his act in September, Suh’s latest offense may escape the list of infamy in the NFL history books, but he is seemingly leaving no stone unturned in trying to leave a lasting impression on a not-so-desirable list where he already holds the top spot.

Here’s a look at the 9 biggest fines recorded in the history of the NFL for on-field misconduct, according to a compilation by the Associated Press. The list looks at players who have been fined more than $50,000, and does not include fines that were later reduced.

7. Dan Neil (Denver Broncos)

Amount: $52, 941; Year: 2001; for Violation

Credit: DJ Spiess; www.fermentarium.com

The Denver Broncos guard was handed down the hefty fine for two illegal leg whips in a losing cause against the Oakland Raiders. Interestingly, it was the second straight week that the Houston-born Neil was penalized. He incurred a $15,000 penalty in the previous week after breaking the leg of New England Patriots linebacker Bryan Cox.

6. Ed Reed (Baltimore Ravens)

Amount: $55,000; Year: 2012; for Violation

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ftmeade/

The Baltimore Ravens safety was fined for a hit on New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz in December 2012 after striking him in the head and neck. The month before that, Reed had a one-game suspension reduced to a $50,000 fine, but he outdid himself with the tête-à-tête with Cruz.

5. Darren Woodson (Dallas Cowboys)

Amount: $75,000; Year: 2002; for Violation

Woodson’s helmet hit on Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson earned him a pricey $75,000 fine. It was a nasty attack that left Jackson with a concussion and a seizure in the locker room later. The resulting on-field penalty also led to a drive that allowed the Seahawks to clinch the game with a field goal with just 25 seconds remaining.

4. John Lynch (Denver Broncos)

Amount: $75,000; Year: 2005; for Violation

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/julioenriquez/

Lynch’s helmet-to-helmet tackle on the Indianapolis Colts’ Dallas Clark left the Broncos safety with a fine that was 10 times higher than the sum of his previous three fines. And understandably so, after his move left Clark with a concussion and blood oozing out of his mouth.

3. Warren Sapp (Oakland Raiders)

Amount: $75,000; Year: 2007; for Violation

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quintanomedia/

Oakland Raiders’ Sapp was handed a big fine after venting his frustration at officials, an outburst that was not taken too kindly by the league and saw the defensive tackle being ejected from the game.

2. Bryan Cox (Chicago Bears)

Amount: $87,500; Year: 1996; for Violation

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bracken/

The Bears linebacker was way ahead of his time and managed to hold on to the dubious record of the biggest on-field fine for 17 years. Cox’s offense was an obscene gesture at an official followed by some ill-advised cursing. What got us into the ruckus? Cox throwing his helmet, and then charged with unsportsmanlike conduct.

1. Ndamukong Suh (Detroit Lions)

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/

Amount: $100,000; Year: 2013; for Violation

What led to the biggest fine in the history of the NFL for on-field conduct? Suh’s illegal block on Minnesota Vikings center John Sullivan. That was the sixth career fine for the man who has built a reputation for willing to play nasty. Will he change his style? Suh plans to play “hard, blue-collar football,” according to ESPN.

Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet]]>http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/nfl/7-biggest-fines-in-nfl-history.html/feed/0The 8 Most Ridiculous Superstitions in Baseballhttp://www.cheatsheet.com/google-news/the-8-most-ridiculous-superstitions-in-baseball.html/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/google-news/the-8-most-ridiculous-superstitions-in-baseball.html/#commentsMon, 04 Nov 2013 13:01:14 +0000Aabha Ratheehttp://wallstcheatsheet.com/?p=437206The Boston Red Sox, having ended an 86-year-old MLB championship drought in 2004, are now making a habit of winning. This past week, the Sox won their third World Series title over the last 10 years — and their eighth overall — beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6. They had also won titles in 2004 and 2007, the first of those instances finally ending the Curse of the Bambino for the team from Fenway Park.

Superstitions, myths, and crazy quirks are a hallmark of sport — not the least in baseball where there are innumerable stories of some unexplained, oft-repeated ritual or curses that apparently plague teams and players. We take a look at 8 of the most famous superstitions in the sport:

1. Curse of the Bambino

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylawyer/

When Babe Ruth, or The Bambino, was traded to bitter rivals New York Yankees in January 1920, Sox fans started believing that their team, which had won five World Series titles until then, would never win again. The curse built infamy of its own when it looked like it was actually coming true, with Boston staying short year after year starting 1918. It also coincided with the surprising rise of the Yankees, leading to much trash talk by fans from New York for their Boston counterparts. The curse finally lifted in 2004 after 86 long years. Fittingly, the Yankees had a role to play: The Sox came back from a 0-3 deficit to beat their rivals in the American League Championship Series. They then beat the St. Louis Cardinals in a clean sweep in the World Series.

2. The Curse of Billy Goat

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eprater/

Boston should consider themselves lucky because this particular curse — similar in nature to the Bambino — has still not lifted off Chicago Cubs shoulders. The Curse of Billy Goat apparently hit the Cubs in 1945 when Billy Sianis, the owner of Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, was asked to leave Wrigley Field during a World Series game against the Detroit Tigers. It seems that the pet goat Sianis had brought along for the fun had an odor that bothered his fellow fans. Sianis left, but not before muttering the famous words, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” Fans are still trying hard to get rid of the curse that has kept the Cubs title-less. In 2011, a pledge called Reverse The Curse was started to offer goats to families in developing countries, while in 2012, a group of five Cubs fans walked from the team’s spring practice facility in Mesa, Arizona to Wrigley Field along with a goat named Wrigley.

3. The Curse of Colonel Sanders

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlebiglens/

This one comes all the way from Japan, where a curse was apparently placed on the Hanshin Tigers by the founder and mascot of KFC. Colonel Harland Sanders was supposed to have been angered by some Tigers fans reportedly throwing one of his store-front statues into a river while celebrating the team’s 1985 Japan Championship Series victory. Following the curse, the team actually went on a barren streak. The lost statue was finally recovered in the river in March 2009, but the team’s losing record is still intact.

4. Ronald Reagan and the Case of Silent Pitchers

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/waynewilkinson/

Ronald Reagan, who was a radio announcer in Iowa right out of college, firmly believed in a now classic baseball superstition of teammates not speaking to a pitcher working on a no-hitter. So much so that even he’d never mention no-hitters on radio. Most current broadcasters still follow Reagan’s practice. In fact, Reagan even applied the same philosophy during his election campaigns. “I kind of feel the same way about campaigning,” Reagan reportedly replied when asked about his potential election fate in 1984.

5. Jason Giambi’s Golden Thong

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

Weird superstitions don’t just hit teams, it seems. Former Colorado Rockies player Jason Giambi was known to go into inexplicable slumps, and the first baseman once decided that his problem could be fixed by a piece of women’s clothing. Giambi reportedly wore a golden thong to the game every time he felt like he was under the supposed curse. According to Men’s Fitness, the fix even worked more often than not. And apparently it worked so well that even his teammates asked to borrow the thong for their own periods of bad form. “I was blown away,” Yankees broadcaster and former big league pitcher David Cone said to ESPN about Giambi’s slightly strange practice. “You’ve got to be pretty confident in yourself to let that one out.”

6. Justin Verlander’s Taco Bell Addiction

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander apparently needs to eat a Taco Bell meal before every single game. He revealed this strange affliction on Conan O’Brien’s show in 2012. ”The same thing every time,” Verlander told O’Brien when asked what he typically orders from the haven of the hungover. “Three crunchy taco supremes, no tomato, a cheesy gordita crunch and a Mexican pizza, no tomato. Every time.” You better believe him: Verlander even tweets pictures of his calorie-laden pre-game meal, according to Yahoo Sports. Here’s Verlander on Conan:

7. Justin Morneau

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

Verlander is not alone in his need to repeat meal items. First baseman Justin Morneau would stop by the same Jimmy John’s Gourmet Subs everyday when he played for the Minnesota Twins between 2003 and 2013, ordering the Turkey Tom sandwich, no sprouts, for $4.65. That was followed by his special drink, created by teammate Nick Punto — one-half Mountain Dew, one-half red or orange from the clubhouse slurpee machine. But don’t think he stopped there. ”He is our biggest superstition guy,” Punto told ESPN in 2007. Following the meal ritual, Morneau then stepped onto the field at 6:47 with Jason Bartlett and did four wind sprints. ESPN lists more rituals: “Then he plays catch with Bartlett, or Punto in a pinch … Morneau wore No. 33 in 2006, having requested it about 14 seconds after the Twins traded J.C. Romero to the Angels at the end of 2005, because that was the number worn by Patrick Roy. On hockey nights in his childhood, spent in a Vancouver suburb, Morneau refused to exit the car before a game until precisely 6:33, to honor Roy, and because Morneau, also a goalie, knew it was just the right time.”

8. Kiki Cuyler

The Kiki Cuyler case may be one of those things that started the baseball superstition tradition. According to The Seattle Times, when then Pittsburgh Pirates manager Donnie Bush wanted outfielder Cuyler to move from third base to second in the batting order in 1927, the player plain refused. Cuyler firmly believed that hitting third was lucky for him. According to the report, Bush, who hadn’t been happy with Cuyler’s prior season-long performance either, suspended him just before the World Series for this particular rebellion. A struggling Pirates team was beaten easily by the Yankees.

Sports fans can be fickle with their love or hate, but it seems Manti Te’o has not yet been forgiven for his fake girlfriend drama that captivated football audiences earlier this year. The San Diego Chargers linebacker, in his rookie season, has been voted the second-most hated player in the NFL, according to surveys from E-Poll Market Research.

The survey’s E-score took into account reports from 1,100 people aged 13 and over and rated more than 7,500 celebrities on appeal, likability, and other attributes. For football, only active NFL players who registered a minimum 10 percent awareness level with the public were considered. Te’o received a 48 percent disapproval rating, better only than Michael Vick at 53 percent. Vick, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, was implicated in an illegal interstate dog fighting ring back in 2007 and still hasn’t managed to erase that blot from his public perception.

Te’o, who claimed he was the victim of a catfish prank in the saga that included his assumed girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, dying of cancer, has clearly not been able to convince fans of his innocence yet. Reacting to the survey results, Te’o said if people knew him better, they would have a very different perception.

“People have their own opinions and I’m going to continue to do what I’m doing and let my play speak for itself,” he said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “All that stuff doesn’t mean anything. Obviously those guys that voted for that don’t know me.”

The story of Te’o’s assumed girlfriend first gained national traction in 2012 when Kekua was presumed to have been in a car crash. She, or as the story went, recovered fully, but was then struck by leukemia. Most major news outlets wrote about Te’o’s apparent struggles as he was reported to be staying up all night on the phone with Kekua as she lay in hospital.

Then Te’o’s grandmother passed away, and within 24 hours, there was news that Kekua had apparently died, too. Within a few days of that, Te’o led Notre Dame to a victory over Michigan State with 12 tackles. Then, in January this year, the sports website Deadspin ran an investigation that found that Kekua had been a mere figment of someone’s imagination. Exactly whose head she was born in is not yet clear. While Te’o says he was merely a victim, not everyone has believed him. In his first road professional game ever, on Octboer 20 at Oakland Raiders, home fans in in the ‘Black Hole’ section at the stadium teased Te’o with a banner honoring his dead fake girlfriend.

Te’o, who was a second-round draft pick out of Notre Dame, missed San Diego’s first three games with a foot sprain. He made his debut in Week 4 at home against the Dallas Cowboys. When the scandal hit, Te’o was recognized as a consensus All-American, and with his eight national awards, was one of the most decorated college football players of all time.

Clayton Kershaw may be making Magic Johnson’s dreams come true very soon. Earlier this year Johnson, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, had said that he was keen on making Kershaw, whom he called the “best pitcher” in baseball, a very rich man. ”He’s our Sandy Koufax of today,” Johnson said at the time. “That’s how important he is. We feel he is the best pitcher in all of baseball. And when you are the best, you gotta be paid the best. We understand that.”

And now according to ESPN, the Dodgers have offered Kershaw a lifetime contract in the range of $300 million. Although negotiations broke down for the moment partly because Kershaw was unsure of agreeing to such a long deal, but the left-hander, who will be eligible for free agency following the 2014 season, may be coming around soon. According to ESPN sources, the Dodgers are ready for a shorter deal that works for Kershaw, and the pitcher may agree to it as early as this winter. ESPN added that a large portion of the fee will be paid to a charity of Kershaw’s choosing. The pitcher has just finished a two-year, $19 million contract with the Dodgers that paid him $11 million this season.

The 25-year-old Kershaw was the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft, and has gone on to lead the National League in ERA the last three seasons. He is on his way to winning the Cy Young Award this year, after having already claimed it in 2011.

The deal, if and when it comes through, will make Kershaw the highest-paid pitcher ever. At the moment that title belongs to Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers, who signed a seven-year contract for $180 million. Verlander can potentially extend that to an eight-year, $202 million contract if he manages to make the top five of the Cy Young Award shortlist in 2019. Felix Hernandez is on a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Seattle Mariners. The New York Yankees, the sport’s big payers, signed CC Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million deal after the 2008 season.

As ESPN points out, the largest contract in baseball at the moment belongs to Alex Rodriguez, who has been signed by the Yankees for a 10-year, $275 million deal. That can potentially go up to $305 million. Dodgers, however, have sought to change the money scales this season and are currently the biggest overall payers in baseball. As of October 23, 2013, Spotrac estimated that the Dodgers had a combined player-fee check — including active contracts, dead money, and salaries paid to players on injured reserve — of over $238 million. The Yankees are second at just over $228 million.

Johnson is part of the group, which also includes Mark Walter and Stan Kasten, that bought the Dodgers before the 2012 season for a record $2 billion. Their biggest player payouts as of now include Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto.

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